“Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors”

 

“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” -John 20:19

Nancy went shopping today, leaving the keys on a dresser outside of a room the kids and I were in. While this was done purposely, she accidentally locked a screen door to said room from the outside. With I having no access to the keys or front door, and the front door locking automatically from the inside, Nancy returned from her shopping to find us locked in and her locked out. By the grace of God, Lauren, our director, just happened to be driving by and just happened to have a spare set of keys! 

Setting The Bar

 

To celebrate the beginning of classes here in Juticalpa, my building principal gave me this cute hand-made figure…or a clear message as to what I’m supposed to do here!!! 

-Jacob

Not Our Fault, Still Our Problem

 

At the end of a week, right as I (Jacob) got home, I was greeted by an official-looking fellow saying he had received an order to cut our power. We’d never received a bill or notice, and the foundation told us they’d paid it for the month. The power guy said they hadn’t received it. So here we sit with no lights, no fan, no means of recharging, nada. Not our fault, and still our problem. While this certainly pales in comparison to the trials of Job, I noticed a similar theme: unmerited tribulation. The whole book of Job flips the just-world hypothesis on its head, inviting us beyond a world of rewards and punishments into a greater world of mercy and humility.

In The Moment At A Moment's Notice

 

Stores in Juticalpa are generally closed on Sunday, and the power is known to fail at times. It's something new to have to "slow down" and be in the present moment at a moment's notice. The silence is awkward at first as one's mind struggles to "fill the void" with more: things to do, say, buy, and post. After a while, a kind of acceptance sets in. Fr. Thomas Keating once said, "silence is the language of God, everything else is a poor translation". The spontaneity keeps one from chalking the insights found in these moments up to oneself. 

Fun At The Park

A park just around the corner from our home proved to be an ideal place to take Santi, he was getting a little stir-crazy just being at home settling in. What I didn’t expect was just how much attention he and I would get from a pack of other kids that were playing there too.

After some brief introductions, they took to Santi as a welcome playmate. Santi brought me a stick, and being a dutiful father, I promptly made like it was a magic wand and turned him into a gecko. The other kids quickly demanded I give them the same treatment, turning them into assorted animals.

Switching the game up to sword-fighting, all the kids (my son included) picked up sticks of their own and realized they outnumbered me by a good deal. Cue me then running for my life throughout this local park chased by small children armed with sticks!! When Jesus told us that we must become as little children, I didn’t exactly have this in mind!!

-Jacob

The Will To Join

Last night, Radio Majestad (a music station just down the street from our house) celebrated its 51st anniversary with a block party. This being Honduras, most styles of Latin music were the order of the evening. While I had considerable background in swing dancing, I had very little in the way of Latin dance. This didn’t seem to matter to any of my dance partners, as either I was able to fake it or they were willing to give me a quick tutorial. Or both! 

Fr Richard Rohr likens the life of God to a dance which pulls all creation in, and that sin is to basically “sulk in the corner”, refusing to join and bottling oneself up instead of sharing one’s life with all others. I didn’t need to be a professional dancer to join the locals in their celebration, I just needed the will to join and the humility to learn.  

-Jacob 

The True (False) Self

Well, we made it and we got settled in!! Our home is inviting and friendly-and so are the locals! I can’t count how many times I’ve been helped by everyone from office staff to strangers in just getting around and getting what we need! 

The trip over was stressful - after all, transporting two toddlers in 24 hours of flying shouldn’t be that hard…right?? 

Fr. Thomas Keating talks about our “emotional programs for happiness”- habitual patterns of thought or expectations that end up depriving us of peace and driving us to sin. It is through the circumstances of life that frustrate these emotional programs that we learn what they are - they reveal the “false self”, the “old Adam” awaiting healing from Christ. The trip over and preparing for it has given me a great gift - namely a better look at myself and what I need from God. 

-Jacob